The Pumpkin Patch
by WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: One-shot Sequel to "We are the Crystal Cats". Lapis Lazuli and Peridot just moved in together into the barn, and while Peridot grows distant from her friend, Lazuli tries to understand why. When Peridot finds a strange looking pumpkin in their patch, it becomes obvious that there is a problem with Peridot. Witchcraft AU. Lapidot.


**.::The Pumpkin Patch::.  
**

A "We are the Crystal Cats" Story

Last month has been busy, to say the least. Peridot and I have been moving into the barn, and making it a little bit more comfortable, and insulated, because winter is coming and I don't want to die freezing in an old barn. We've sorted through all of the old junk that were stored inside, and kept a few stuff. Peridot has done wonders with the electricity, and she also magically bended the old truck into a comfy couch, give or take a few pillows. We cleaned the top floor on both side, and turned it into our rooms. I brought a lot of stuff from my house, notably my art pieces which Peridot decided to expose all around the barn. Unfortunately, there wasn't a way to add a kitchen or a bathroom, so we make trips back to Steven's house through the warp-pad at least three times a day.

On this particular day of early October, as the first trees are turning orange, I am panting the outside of the barn. Peridot has been fixing the roof all morning, and she was tired of sitting, so she decided to take a break to bring back the circulation in her legs. I'm standing on the third step of the ladder, a paint-can of red in one hand and a large brush in the other. I feel like it's going to take quite a while before I'm done with the painting, but at least it keeps my mind occupied, and away from my barn buddy. Why is that? Because we have been nothing but awkward since the first night we shared the barn.

It had started great, really great. We had moved our stuffs with the help of the gems, give or take a few girlfriends. And then Peridot started to get awkward every time I got close to her. All I remember is I fell asleep on her shoulder the first night while watching Camp Pining Hearts, and then in the morning she got awkward, and she's been kind of avoiding me ever since. Like a few minutes ago when I asked her if she wanted some help to get down from the roof, and she would have rather jumped from the roof rather than I held the ladder for her. And she's been like that all week!

"Hum...Lazuli! I think you should check this out!"

I hear her loud voice echoing around the valley. She seems panic and worried, but not afraid or in trouble, so I take my time to get down from the ladder, and leave the can and the brush at its foot, before heading toward the silo, where she called from. As I get closer I can hear the yapping of a dog, probably a puppy. I frown.

"Peridot? Have you found a straight dog or something?" I call.

"Hum... Yeah, kinda..."

"Have you forgotten you're not a cat anymore? It can't chase you aroun..."

But before I can finish my sentence, I find Peridot in the middle of the pumpkin patch, and one of the pumpkin is yapping at her. Its very big, as it reaches above Peridot's knees, and has four stubby legs, as if they were outgrowth of its body. It has two round eyes already carved, and a big smiling mouth. It's still connected to its stem, and pulling on it as it tries to run toward Peridot who has backed off a few feet.

"What is that?"

"A pumpkin dog? A pumpdog? I don't know. I was walking around and I just heard it yapping."

I give her a confused look and ask:

"Should we... set it free?"

"And risk a potential threat to spill into the human world? No, sir." she replies as she pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "We need to call a professional."

* * *

A few minutes later, Steven joins us. He's out of breath but very excited, and can't help but coo when he sees the puppkin (Peridot finally settled on a name.)

"What happened? Is that a pumpkin dog?"

"Yes, Steven, it's a puppkin. The question is, how did it get here!"

He looks deeply at the still joyously yapping pumpkin, and rubs his chin reflexively between two fingers, before answering.

"I made it."

"What?"

"Yeah, I made it. A few months ago I was working on a potion to create sentient being. I really thought it had failed, but I guess not!"

I warily look around me at the other pumpkin, but they look normal to me. From the few things I have already learned about magic, I know all spell casts at the same time should take effect at the same time. So if all those pumpkins were to become alive, they would have at the same time as this puppkin. I let out a sigh once I'm sure they won't attack me.

"Maybe we should show it to a real expert? Don't you think?" I ask.

"Why?"

"Well... I mean, its a vegetable. I don't want a rotten pumpkin following me around all day in a few weeks..."

Steven nods.

"Let's show it to Pearl or Sapphire, they'll probably know what to do with it."

Peridot finally dares to move closer to the pumpkin, and carefully cut its stem. The puppkin doesn't wait around, and jumps into her arms, snuggling comfortably. It reminds me of when Peridot was still a cat ready to take any occasion as a snuggling excuse.

We make our way to the pad, and teleport to Steven's house.

* * *

When the beam of light dispels, we found Ruby and Sapphire seated on the couch, not doing anything in particular if not cuddling. The puppkin is done yapping, but that's only because Peridot is stroking his head, just like I did when she was a cat. Steven quickly walks up to them and declares:

"Sapphire, we need the input of an expert."

Ruby let go of Sapphire's arm which she was holding over her shoulders, and Sapphire moves closer to the table as Peridot lets go of the puppkin on the table. Instantly frighten, it jumps back into her arms.

"No, stay on the table."

She puts it back, and it jumps back in her arms.

"No, no, no, I said, stay."

She places it back, and it surprisingly jumps into my arms. It's heavy, but not as much as I thought, and not cold like usual pumpkins. Its the same temperature as cat Peridot was. It snuggles in the crook of my arms, and I struck its head. It's not fury but its soft nonetheless, as if it was actually made of plastic. I don't try to place it on the table, since the results would be the same, but rather approach it as much as possible from Sapphire. She leans towards it, and frown upon giving it a good look.

"Is that a pumpkin dog? Who made it?"

"I did!"proudly answered Steven.

She nodded.

"Well, I'm not an expert on herbology, maybe you should ask Pearl. It's a very nice creation anyway, Steven, congratulation."

"Thank you! Is Pearl in her room?"

"No, she's outside." answers Ruby.

We nod, and walk toward the front door. I can hear the two witches talking behind us.

"Should I be offended he doesn't consider me an expert?"

"Of course not. You're just a different type of expert."

"That I am!"

We walk down the wooden stairs toward the beach, the puppkin still comfortably settled in my arms. I notice Peridot is giving it weird looks from time to time, but I ignore her. We find Pearl on the beach, reading a very heavy looking book, while her girlfriend – who's name's Sheena – is reading over her shoulder, or maybe that's just an excuse to be close to Pearl. I can even see Steven hesitating before her calls her out:

"Pearl, we need your help."

She turns around, and finally seem to notice how close her and Sheena have got, as she scrambles to get away with a blush. She quickly stands, her book all but forgotten on Sheena's lap, and I approach the puppkin for her to see.

"What is it, Ste... wait, is that a dog pumpkin?""

"It's a puppkin, yes" confirms Peridot. "Steven made it, and now we don't know what to do with it."

She gives the puppkin a furrow look, observing it under every angle. By the time she is done Sheena has joined our little group.

"Wow, it looks freaky! Cute, but freaky." she declares. "Can I hold it?"

I shrug. Sheena has been very helpful to us during our move, since, after Pearl's declaration, 'she is the strongest human she has ever encountered'. She did lift her fair share of boxes.

"You can try."

I approach my arms to her to pass the puppkin into her arms, but it doesn't seem to appreciate the move, and jumps out of my arms to run back to Peridot, standing on its rear legs and balancing itself on her knee. She picks it up and I shrug.

"Sorry, but it doesn't seem to like being hold by anyone but Peridot and I."

She doesn't seem to mind, rather she turns to Pearl and asks:

"Can you make me one? A freaky apple rabbit or something like that?"

Pearl shakes her head.

"Unfortunately, I have never been able to make a sentient being grow. But I know someone who could."

We all turn to Steven, and Pearl places a hand on his shoulder, with a proud smile on her face.

"Your mother would have been so proud of you Steven. This is a beautiful creation."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

His eyes illuminate with pride and he runs back to his house.

"Hold on Sheena! I'll make you an apple rabbit!"

And with that he's gone, and Sheena is chuckling beside us. I turn back to Pearl and ask:

"So, what do we do with the puppkin?"

"If you want to, you can keep it. It seems to appreciate your company anyway."

"Then we're keeping it!" declares Peridot. I'm a bit less categoric.

"How do one take care of a vegetable pet?"

"I do believe it takes care of itself."

"So it's more a vegetable than an animal? Any chance of... corruption?"

It takes a few seconds for Pearl to understand what I mean, but than she shakes her head.

"Not that I can remember. Rose once had a pear-parrot for a while, but I think it escaped, rather than dying of... corruption."

"Alright, well, I guess we can keep it. What do you think Peridot?"

But Peridot is already gone, probably home. I sigh, and thank Pearl before heading back inside.

* * *

Peridot has given up on taking care of the roof, and spent the rest of the afternoon playing fetch with the puppkin. I truly thought she was going to grow tired of it, but I guess not. We then have gone back to Steven's home for diner, and went home to watch some TV. The puppkin slept soundly on her lap all evening, and once we decided to go to sleep Peridot left it on the couch.

My eyes are barely closed when I hear the whimpers of a dog, and sigh. I mumble in my pillow:

"Peridot, take care of it."

"No, I'm sleeping."

I sigh again, and manage to get up from my warm and comfortable spot under the covers. All lights are out now, except for the moon shining through the door gap we still need to fix. I carefully walk down the ladder, and go over to the couch, from which the puppkin jumps into my arms. But it doesn't stop whimpering either, which prompts me to believe it wants to sleep with Peridot.

"You want to go with Peridot, don't you? Hold on."

I hold the puppkin in one arm, and climb very slowly toward Peridot's room, which makes the puppkin stop its fearful cries. I guess I was right. I don't climb into her room, just high enough for my head to appear above the ground and for me to let the puppkin into her room.

"Here, Peridot, it want to sleep with you."

"Where is..."

Her breath is cut short when her new pet climbs onto her belly and prepares itself to sleep. She moves it beside her, and I climb back down with the impression to have done my last good deed of the day. But as soon as I'm climbing back into my bed the puppkin starts to whimper again.

"Lazuli, I think it wants you. Come pick it up!"

I ignore her, but she knows how to keep me from sleep.

"Lazuli! Come on! Lazuli!"

I grunt and get back up, to go down my ladder, and up hers, and once the puppkin sees me again he stops. I guess he wanted to be with me, actually. I hold out my arms for it to come to me, but it doesn't budge either. In fact, it goes back to sleep on Peridot's belly, taking her breath away once again. Then it finally clicks in my mind, and I sigh.

"It wants both of us."

Finally she gets up, and stares at me in shock.

"What do you mean?"

"It wants to sleep with the both of us."

I climb into her room, and slide under her cover.

"Scoot over, or I'm going to fall off during the night."

She does as I ask. She tries to be quick but her motions are awkwardly broken. As soon as I'm laying beside her she turns her back to me, and while it saddens me to see she's still eliminating any physical contact between us, I just take the puppkin in my arms and hold it close, about the same way I did when I still had my Peridot to hug.

* * *

I wake up late in the morning, the puppkin still sleeping beside me. However, Peridot isn't. I look down at our living room, expecting her to be on the couch watching TV, but she isn't. Is she working on the roof? No, I can't hear any nails being hammered, or loud steps over my head. I look over at the puppkin, now fully awake and with its tong lolling out of its mouth.

"Let's go and find Peridot, okay? Can you do like real dogs and find her sent or something?"

It stares back at me, and yaps once. I'll take that as a no. I'm not even sure it has nostrils, actually.

I take it down with me, and, still in my pajamas, I make my way to the door. I quickly look outside, but Peridot is nowhere to be seen, neither on the roof nor around the silo. She may have already gone for breakfast, which saddens me slightly as she usually waits for me, even when I oversleep. I go back inside, and change quickly. I feel better with my jacket on, since its really getting colder by the day. I walk to the pad, the little puppkin by my side. It has taken me a few days to learn how to use it correctly, but now I can do it in my sleep.

We arrive at Steven's house, and as I step onto the parquet floor I can see Pearl and Amethyst letting out a nervous sigh.

"Thank goodness Lazuli, you're here." says Pearl.

"Why? What is going on?"

"Well, Peri's been all weird this morning." declares Amethyst. "She just walked in this morning, grabbed the entire box of donuts and walked all the way up to the lighthouse."

I frown. Even when Peridot isn't properly awaken she doesn't do such a thing. She misses the couch when she tries to sit down, sure, but she doesn't run away with the box of donuts.

"Steven's been up there with her, but we have no idea what is going on, and well..."

Pearl seems embarrassed to continue, and it seems my scrutiny doesn't help her. I'm just waiting for her to finish her thought. It seems Amethyst agrees, as she takes over.

"Well, see, we kinda thought you two had a bad fight."

"A fight? Why would we have fought?"

"I don't know, it's what Pearl was thinking!" she quickly answered before retiring toward her room.

I sigh, and even though I would very much like to take a breakfast before climbing all the way up to the lighthouse, but I guess breakfast is at the lighthouse. I walk out, puppkin on my heels, and there I find Ruby and Sapphire. It seems pieces of donuts are flying down from the cliff, and Ruby is nimbly catching them, handing some to Sapphire and placing others on a plate. She had been doing a good job, since not a single piece is laying on the sand. When they see me walking out, Sapphire declares:

"Good to see you're okay. Could you go and talk to Peridot? I fear she may need a good friend to listen to her."

"On it."

As I step onto the sand Ruby takes a break from observing the cliff and hands me the plate, on which more than a dozen pieces of donuts balance precariously.

"Breakfast?"

"Thanks."

I take a big piece, and eat it as I make my way to the fence, with the biggest hole ever in it. It's suppose to keep humans away, but it's pretty much useless, since the postman passes at Steven's house every morning anyway.

As I climb up the grassy hill, the wind picks up and I tighten my jacket around me. My short hair are blown away, messing them up even more. As I arrive closer to the top, I can hear Peridot and Steven arguing:

"No, Peridot, I won't do it. This is stupid and you know it!"

"Steven, please, I'm asking as a friend! It's the only way she'll like me again!"

"I'm sorry Peridot, but I won't do it."

I frown. What the hell is she asking about. I can see Steven walking away, and as we cross path he gives me a sad smile.

I arrive beside Peridot, and the puppkin runs over to her excitedly. She barely looks over to it. She is seated on the edge with her legs hanging. The donut box beside her is empty now, she has nothing left to throw. The puppkin places its little front paws on her thigh, as if waiting for her to pet it.

"Leave me be you clod!"

She pushes it aside, and it rolls lightly to its side, its stubby little legs still moving excitedly. It manages to get back up, and runs back to her. She picks it up.

"I said let me be!"

I froze, as I see Peridot throwing our puppkin over the edge. My stomach does a flip and my eyes grow wide. I run to the edge, almost falling myself, and yell:

"What have you done! Are you crazy!"

But I let a sigh of relief as I see Ruby down making being hand gestures, puppkin safely placed in Sapphire's arms. I turn to Peridot, boiling with anger. How dare she almost kill my poor little puppkin! Our puppkin! She took care of it more than I did!

"What the heck is wrong with you?"

"I'm human..."

Her answer is a whisper lost to the wind, that my ears can barely pick up.

"Yes, you're human, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you shouldn't have thrown our puppkin over the edge? Imagine what would have happened if Ruby hadn't been there to pick it up? You would have killed it!"

"Then if you care so much about this stupid vegetable go and be with him!"

I grunt in frustration.

"I don't even understand you anymore! Yesterday you were so happy to have it, and now you throw it over a cliff? Why?! What happened? What changed?"

"I changed!" This time her answer was clear, and it took me by surprise. "I changed back to a human, here's the problem!"

"What?"

She is finally looking back at me, instead of staring into nothing, and I can see her usual bright green eyes have lost their shine, and they are red, just as red as her nose. She's been crying over this, and I can't even understand the situation fully.

"Why would that be a problem?"

"Because you liked me better as a cat!"

"Why would you say that? When did I say such a thing? Wait, is that why you've been avoiding me so much this week?"

"Yes, yes it is! Because you don't like me the way I am!"

I swallow the lump in my throat. There is a serious communication problem between us if she thinks I like her better as a cat. Yes, she was cute, but I prefer her by far now, this her messy hair, and her huge glasses, and her hands I can hold, and her arms she can hug me back with.

"I don't like you better as a cat. Why would you say that?"

"Because you said it! The first night when we were on the couch. You still thought I was a cat when I try to wake you!"

"Seriously? You're angry at me for a thing I said when I was half asleep?"

I sigh. This really is just a very very bad case of insecurity, if you ask me, but who hasn't been there at one point or another? So I do what seems to be the mostly logical thing to do right now. I launch myself at her, tackling her on the grass in the process, and give her a kiss on the lips. She seems shock at first, but I can quickly feel her arms around my waist, and her lips pressing against mine with the same pressure.

Once we part, I can see her goofy smile, and I chuckle. I play with the hair at the back of her head, my hands still around her neck.

"Could I have done that if you had been a cat?" I ask.

"Well, technically, you could, although..."

I shut her with another peck on the lips, not long enough for her to kiss me back.

"I like the normal you better. The messy hair, all glasses and no green fur. And if you hadn't been this stubborn to avoid me all week, I could have kissed you earlier."

"I know, I'm sorry... and to be fair, I like the normal you better."

"You never saw me as a cat." I remind her.

"I know, but I'm sure you would make a very beautiful one too. All gracious and arrogant looking."

I finally let go of her, easily escaping her arms around my waist, and get up, before holding out a hand to help her up. Once back on her feet, she picks up the empty donut box and place it under her arm. We walk down the hill hand in hand, and I feel like I'm breathing a new air, a fresher one.

I shove Peridot to the side without letting go of her hand and declare seriously:

"But if you ever throw our puppkin over a cliff again, I swear you'll follow him."

She gulps.

"Yes captain."

* * *

A/N: Hope I compensated for the lack of Lapidot in the main story!


End file.
